The term “website” is used herein to refer to a collection of related web pages, images, videos, rich Internet applications, or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL) domain name or Internet Protocol (IP) address. A website is generally hosted by at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or private local area network. All publicly accessible websites collectively make up the World Wide Web. The term “web page” is used herein to refer to a document or other electronic content that is provided to and interpreted by a user's web browser or other application to display content, for example, according to the document's instructions. Users can access a web page directly, by entering some or all of a URL directly in a web browser. Web browsers use the URL to resolve a domain name and ultimately identify an IP address from which the content specified by the user-entered URL can be retrieved.
There are also various ways to search for electronic content. Numerous search engine websites are available on the World Wide Web, for example, and allow users to enter one or more search terms to search for web pages containing the searched for content. Such search engines generally store information about many web pages including words from titles, headings, and elsewhere in the content, and/or from the metadata of the web pages. Such information can be stored in an index database. When a user enters a search, the search engine examines its index and provides a listing of best-matching web page results according to its criteria, usually with a short summary containing each result's title, some of its text, and a link to the web page.
While search engines employ various techniques using entered search terms to try to identify web pages containing the content for which a user is searching, users often have to search amongst many of the listed search results or revise their search before finding the searched for content. To facilitate more refined searching, many search engines support the use of multiple search terms and the joining of such terms using Boolean operators such as “AND” and “OR” to allow a user to refine and extend a search. Some search engines provide a proximity search feature which allows a user to define the distance (i.e., the number of intermediate words or characters) between keywords. The usefulness of a search engine depends on the relevance of its results to the user's search. While many web pages may include particular words or phrases, some web pages may be more relevant to a user's particular search than others. Search engines vary widely with respect to determining which pages are the best matches and ordering results.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary flowchart 1 illustrating actions that an exemplary user takes to search for and access desired web content using conventional web technology. In block 2, the user accesses a search engine website. In block 3, the user enters one or more search terms and initiates a search. In block 4, the user views a listing of search results that were determined by the search engine using the search terms. In block 5, the user selects a search result and accesses the web page identified by that search result. The user then explores that linked-to web page and possibly other web pages provided on the associated linked-to website.
As shown in decision block 6, if the linked-to website provides the searched for content the process ends since the user has found the searched for content. If the user has not found the searched for content, the user returns to the search engine results. For example, many web browsers allow a user to select a “BACK” command that accesses previously accessed web pages. The user may use such a command to backtrack until the search engine results are again displayed in the web browser. The process then returns to block 3 or 5 where the user will either enter or revise search terms (block 3) or select and access another search result from amongst those displayed on the search engine's results (block 5).
This exemplary process and other similar user workflows are typical when a user is searching for web content. Such processes can involve an undesirable amount of back and forth navigation between a search engine website and the individual search result websites. Generally, there is a need for more efficient, better informed, and otherwise improved techniques for searching for and accessing web content.